The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has published The Angler’s Guide to Tennessee Fish, a new identification guide on the vast variety of fish species in the state. The new guide is currently available at TWRA offices and online at TWRA’s website www.tnwildlife.org

Mark Ventura, of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, has received the prestigious honor of being named as the Tennessee Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA) Wildlife Officer of the Year. Ventura was presented the award during the 65rd Annual SEAFWA Conference that the TWRA hosted in Nashville.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has established a walleye stocking program in the Watts Bar Reservoir by recently releasing more than 220,000 fingerlings in the lake. The young walleye were raised at the Eagle Bend Fish Hatchery and were stocked in various locations around the reservoir to augment sauger stocking in Watts Bar.

Federal fish hatcheries responsible for raising 60 percent of all trout in Tennessee are in jeopardy due to proposed federal budget cuts. The cuts would become effective Oct. 11, 2011 and would eliminate a majority of the funding for the Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery and the Erwin National Fish Hatchery.